Metal bands and chains, e.g. for wrist watches

ABSTRACT

A WRIST WATCH BAND OR CHAIN IS FORMED OF A PLURALITY OF COMPOSITE METAL BARS EACH INCLUDING A CURVED HOLDING METALS BAR HAVING A RECTANGULAR RING AT EACH END AND A CURVED METAL BAR HAVING AN INDENTATION OR SLOT ON ONE SIDE INSERTED INTO THE HOLDING METAL BAR TO FORM AN APERTURE WITH THE HOLDING BAR, THROUGH WHICH A LINK IS EXTENDED TO CONNECT THE ADJACENT SOLID METAL BARS.

Oct. 5, 1971 MINORU ICHINOSE METAL BANDS ANDUHAINS, E.G. FOR WRISTWATCHES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed Nov. 25, 1968 FIG-4- A-r-ramviy Oct. 5, 1971 MINORU ICHINOSE METALBANDS AND CHAINS, E.G. FOR WRIST WATCHES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 25,1968 INVENTOR. MINORU [CH/NOSE 1971 MINORU ICHINOSE 3,509,963

METAL BANDS AND CHAINS, E.G. FOR WRIST WATCHES 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledNov. 25. 1968 F G y C S O INVENTOR.

MINORU [CH/NOSE %M/a United States Patent Olfice 3,609,963 Patented Oct.5, 1971 3,609,963 METAL BANDS AND CHAINS, e.g. FOR WRIST WATCHES MinoruIchinose, 1-32, 4-chome, Taito, Taito Ward, Tokyo, Japan Filed Nov. 25,1968, Ser. No. 778,412

Int. Cl. F16g 13/00 U.S. 01. 59-80 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThis invention relates to metal bands or chains of the nonexpansivetype, and more particularly to those intended for personal wear andcommonly referred to as bands or chains. Such chains are capable of usefor personal adornment in themselves and are frequently used for thepurpose of fitting a watch or other articles to the wrist of the wearer.

The object of this invention is to provide a new band or chain of metalcomponents which will be simple to manufacture, of substantial strengthand have long life.

According to ordinary methods, a wrist watch band or chain of this typeis made by cutting a strip of rod into a number of narrow sheets, thenbending reversely each end of each narrow sheet to form two rings,inserting a pin into each ring to form a metal bar, and finallyconnecting these metal bars. According to ordinary :methods, it isnecessary to close each end of the ring by filling a piece through eachside so as to fix the pin after said pin has been inserted, while notclosing several rings of the band or chain in order to allow foradjustment of the length of the band of the wrist watch. To this end,the faces of several rings which are each not filled with the pieceexhibit an unfavourable appearance, and it is also necessary to preparespecial equipment for pulling out the pin for the purpose of adjustingthe length of the band. At the same time, it needs some skill to adjustthe length of the band.

The principal object of this invention is to improve the appearance ofthe wrist watch band, to enable the wearer of said band to easily adjustthe length thereof by himself, and also to provide other advantageswhich will be apparent from the following descriptions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION THE INVENTION The essential feature of thisinvention consists of a band or chain comprising a plurality of metalbars, each metal bar including a curved holding bar having a rectangularring at each end and a similarly curved metal bar formed with anindentation or notch, which is inserted into said holding bar tightly soas to form one or several openings and engaging faces, and adjacetcomposite metal bar connected together by links extending through theadjacent openings, then bent and closed together to hold them together.

Another feature of this invention consists in a band or chain comprisinga plurality of composite metal bars and of adjusting metal bars, eachadjusting metal bar including a curved adjusting metal piece having arectangular ring at each end, and a dent formed of (1) a piece having aninwardly projecting portion inserted into one of the rectangular rings,and (2) an adjusting piece which is so constructed that an opening isformed through a plate portion of said piece, two legs are parallellyextended from said plate portion, said plate portion is formed with adepressed face along one of the legs and a cavity is formed near an endof said leg, said adjusting metal bars being connected together by linksextending through an aperture, said adjusting metal piece being insertedinto the adjusting metal bar so as to form the aperture.

The composite metal bars forming the wrist watch band in accordance withthis invention may be made with different modification by means of themetal pieces to be inserted into these solid metal bars, and namely themetal bar having a transverse slot may be inserted into separate holdingbars, while the metal bar having an indentation at its one face must beinserted into the holding bar which is supported by the bridge portionsso as to form an aperture. Any of these two holding bars may form thecomposite metal bar to have an aperture near one side of said metal barand also to have either wide or narrow engaging face.

The link of this invention is extended through the apertures in thecorresponding engaging faces of two adjacent, side-by-side, compositemetal bars, then bent and closed together to hold them so that asubstantial rotatability is imparted to the link thus connected, thusallowing the bars to rock slightly in relation to one another. Inconsequence, the band or chain can comfortably encircle a wearers wrist.

The holding bars of this invention are constructed to have a centralrecess on the engaging face so that the link thus connecting thecomposite metal bars does not slide, and it is possible to manufacturethe wrist watch band with a comparatively smaller thickness than anordinary one.

The link having either the same or thinner thickness than the holdingbar may match the composite metal bar to have a level face, to enhancethe appearance, to form a smooth inner surface of the band and tocomfortably encircle a wearers wrist.

It is not necessary to develop or bend the link every time said link iseither inserted through or pulled out of the apertures of the adjacentcomposite metal bars. The cavity near the end of one of the legs of theadjusting piece is tightly filled with the inwardly projecting portionof a piece filled into said holding bar so as to firmly hold thesemembers, the level surface is obtained on the side edge portion of theplate portion of the adjusting piece and on the side edge portion of theholding bar; one side of the ring is filled with the piece to exhibit asmooth appearance and said adjusting piece can be easily pulled out bymeans of a steel pin inserted into the opening formed through the plateportion of said adjusting piece. To this end, a wide opening is formedthrough a bottom plate of the holding bar to expose the opening in theadjusting piece. When the adjusting piece is pulled out of the holdingbar to make the adjusting metal bar free, said metal bar can be easilyremoved from said holding bar. When the wrist band or chain is too long,it can be properly adjusted by removing one or two adjusting metal ars.

The invention will be clearly understood from the following descriptionof one form which it may assume, and this description will be morereadily followed by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the wrist watch band in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is'a back view of the wrist watch band shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the wrist watch band shown in FIGS. 1 and2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a metal bar inserted intoda holding barfor the formation of the wrist watch ban FIG. 5 is a perspective view ofthe holding bar for the metal bar shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the composite metal bar consisting ofthe metal bar of FIG. 4 fitted into the holding bar shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a metal bar forinsertion into holding bars in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the another embodiment of a pair ofholding bars for the metal bar shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the composite metal bar consisting ofthe metal bar of FIG. 7 fitted into the holding bars shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 shows, in perspective, the composite metal bars beinginterconnected by links;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a part of the band formed by thecomposite metal bars of this invention linked together;

' FIG. 12 represents, in perspective, an adjusting bar and a piece to beinserted in said adjusting bar;

FIG. 12-1 is aplan view of the adjusting bar shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 13 is a bottom perspective view of the band, particularly showingthe composite bar linked with several adjusting bars;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a part of another embodiment of the watch bandof this invention;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of another solid metal bar taken out ofthe band shown in FIG. 14;

FIGS. 16-19 are the partial plan views of the other embodiments of thewatch bands made in accordance with the present invention.

In carrying the invention into effect in one convenient manner, as shownin the aforesaid drawings, there are prepared a plurality of bars whichare to be linked together to form a watch band. These metal bars 2 maybe formed by cutting a strip of metal rod of approximately rectangularcross-section having a thickness of about 1 millimeter. As seen in FIG.4, each metal bar 2 is slightly curved and has a centrally cutindentation on one side. A holding bar 4 having rectangular rings, orsections, at each end and bridge portions 3, 3' is also slightly curvedwith the same degree as that of the metal bar 2. As shown in FIG. 6, themetal bar 2 is inserted into the rectangular rings of the holding bar 4,then pressed with a substantial pressure to form a firm composite metalbar A. Said composite metal bar A thus formed has an opening 5 near thebridge portion 3 and the composite metal bar A has a wide face 6 and anarrow face 6, which are recessed with the same thickness as that of therectangular ring of the holding bar 4. The thickness of each of thebridge portion 3 and 3 of the rectangular holding bar 4 is preferablythe same as that of the metal bar 2 or slightly depressed.

Another embodiment of the metal bar 21 shown in FIG. 7 is provided withopening 5 near one side of said bar. In FIG. 8, there are shown a pairof separate rectangular holding bars 4 and 4. The metal bar 2' isinserted into these holding bars 4, 4 at each end of said bar 2. so asto form a composite metal bar B shown in FIG. 9. The composite metal barB thus formed has the opening 5, wide face 6 and narrow face 6 like thecomposite metal bar A.

The desired number of bars A or B are brought together in side by siderelation (FIGS. 10 and 11) and connected together by loop links 7 toform a chain or band C. Each link comprises a length 7 of metal stripfirst bent to U-shape and then fitted so that both ends 8, 8 of saidlink pass respectively through the openings 5, 5 of two adjacent bars 2or 2'. The free ends of the link 7 are then bent down and closedtogether in order to form a closed ring embracing the bridge portions 3,3- at the sides of opening 5 of the two bars 2 or 2' (FIG. 11). The loopopenings 5 of the bars 2. or 2'. In this way a series of composite metalbars are connected together to form a strip chain or band for thewristwatch. Either composite metal bar A or bar B constitutes the chainor band having substantially the same construction. The link connectingthe two adjacent bridge portions of the composite metal bars gives thesecomposite metal bars the rotatability.

In FIGS. 12 and 13, a piece 10 having an inwardly projecting portionfrom its one edge is tightly filled in one of the rectangular rings 4';and 4' having the same construction as that of the solid metal bar A inorder to form an adjusting metal bar D; and a curved adjusting piece 17is constructed as to have an opening 15 through its plate portion 11, tohave legs 12 and 13 parallelly extending from said plate portion 11;said plate portion 11 having a depressed face 14 along the leg 13 andsaid leg 13 having an engaging cavity 16 near its end. In FIG. 12, theadjust ing piece 17 is inserted into the adjusting metal bar D as shownby an arrow. FIG. 13 is the bottom perspective view of the band, inwhich it is shown that a wide aperture 4" is formed through a bottomplate portion of the rectangular holding ring 4 of the adjusting bar toexpose the opening 15 of the adjusting piece 17. As seen in FIG. 2,three adjusting metal bars D are connected between each end of the bandsC, C and a foldable snap 19. In order to connect the two sets of theseadjusting metal bars D at each end of the bands C, C, the links 7 areused as in the links 7 used for interconnecting the composite metal barsA or B. As particularly shown in FIG. 12, the engaging cavity 16 of theleg 13 of the adjusting piece 17 thus inserted into the adjusting metalbar is engaged with the projection 9 of the piece 10 so as to latch themand the leg 13 together with the bridge portion 3 or 6' forms an opening5, through which the adjuseting metal bar D is connected to anotheradjusting metal bar D or the composite metal bar A or B by means of thelink 7. For interconnecting the adjusting metal bar D with anotheradjusting metal bar D, another rectangular link 7' having a wideaperture 18 is shiftably passed through the openings 5, 5, then bentdown and closed together. As already explained, three adjusting metalbars D are connected between each end of the bands C, C and the foldablesnap 19, and a fixing metal 20 is secured at each end of the chain orband C. In this way, a plurality of composite metal bars A or B and theadjusting metal bars D are connected together by the links 7 or 7' toform a chain or band for the wrist watch.

When the chain or band C is too long for the wearers wrist, one of theadjusting metal bars D is easily removed by pulling the adjusting piece17 out of said adjusting metal bar D. As seen in FIGS. 12 and 13, an endof a steel pin can be inserted into the opening 15 of the plate portion11 of the adjusting piece 17 so as to easily pull said piece 17 out ofthe adjusting metal bar D. By virtue of the wide aperture 18 of therectangular link 7, the adjusting metal bar D can be easily removed byhand after the adjusting piece 17 has been pulled out.

The chain or band C formed in accordance with the present invention canbe tapered as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 by connecting the composite metalbars A or B of different lengths, while each end face of the compositemetal bar, adjusting metal bar and adjusting piece can be evened to forma substantially uniform wall surface along each side face of said chainor band.

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a part of another embodiment of the chain orband for the wrist watch, while FIG. 15 is a perspective view of thecomposite metal bar taken out of the band or chain shown in FIG. 14. Inthis embodiment, three holding rings 4 are parallelly provided on theholding bar by means of the bridge portions 3, 6 or 3, 6, then the metalbar 2 is inserted into said holding bar to form two openings 5, 5,through which the links 7, 7 are passed to connect the composite metalbars.

Two links 7, 7 are parallelly engaged into these openings 5, of each ofthe composite metal bars, and several parallel lines 21 are engravedthereon.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of another embodiment of the chain or bandcomprising a plurality of the composite metal bars, each bar havinginclined face 22 at each edge portion, while FIG. 17' is a plan view ofthe other embodiment of the chain or band, in which the links connectingthe composite metal bars are provided with a secant 23 and said linksare substantially rounded. FIG. 18 is also a plan view of anotherembodiment of the chain or band, in which a narrow link is centrallyengaged between the two composite metal bars and two wide links areengaged at each end of each composite metal bar so as to support thesecomposite metal bars. In FIG. 19, it is shown that three narrow, roundlinks are engaged parallelly into the composite metal bars.

In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to form a chainor band of various type by means of connecting a plurality of compositemetal bars with a plurality of links.

From the above description it will be seen that the invention provides astrong and useful band or chain for personal wear, but it should beunderstood that the invention is not limited solely to the details ofthe form described above, which may be modified in order to meet variousconditions and requirements encountered, without departing from thescope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A wrist watch band or chain comprising a plurality of slightlycurved, integral composite metal bars, each composite metal barconsisting of a slightly curved metal bar formed with an indentation inone side face and of a similarly curved holding bar having a rectangularring at each end and two bridge portions connecting said rings, saidcurved metal bar being inserted into the curved holding bar to form anopening, said bars being in close side by side relationship, links inlike openings of adjacent bars connecting them in side by siderelationship, links being through openings in adjacent bars tointerconnect the adjacent bars, and said bridge portions being recessedby the thickness of said link, whereby the surface of said band consistsof links and bars in substantially the same plane.

2. A wrist watch band or chain comprising a plurality of integralcomposite metal bars, each composite metal bar consisting of a slightlycurved metal bar formed with a slot near one side of said metal bar andof two similarly curved rectangular rings, said curved rings beingfitted onto said metal bar to leave said slot open, and links extendedthrough said slots to interconnect adjacent composite metal bars, saidcomposite metal bars being connected in close side by side hingedrelationship by links located in like slots of adjacent bars, saidcurved metal bars of said composite bars being recessed by the thicknessof said link.

3. A wrist watch band or chain as claimed in claim 1 including severaladjusting metal bars each adjusting metal bar consisting of tworectangular rings each supported by a bridge portion, a first piecehaving an inwardly projecting portion from its one end to form a femalerecess and an adjusting second piece having two legs parallellyextending from a plate portion of said adjusting piece to engage saidfirst piece wherein said piece and adjusting piece are tightly insertedinto the rectangular rings.

4. A wrist watch band or chain as claimed in claim 1 including severaladjusting metal bars each adjusting metal bar consisting of tworectangular rings each supported by a bridge portion, a first piecehaving an inwardly projecting portion from its one end to form a femalerecess and an adjusting second piece having two legs parallellyextending from a plate portion of said adjusting piece to engage saidfirst piece wherein said piece and adjusting piece are tightly insertedinto the rectangular rings.

5. A wrist Watch band or chain as claimed in claim 2 wherein a depressedface is provided along one of the two legs of the adjusting piece so asto form an opening when said adjusting piece is inserted into saidrectangular ring.

6. A wrist watch band or chain as claimed in claim 2 wherein a cavity isprovided near an end of one of the two legs of the adjusting piece ofthe adjusting metal bar, characterized in that said cavity of the leg istightly engaged with the projecting portion of the piece when saidadjusting piece is inserted into the rectangular ring.

7. A Wrist watch band or chain as claimed in claim 2 wherein an openingis formed through the plate portion of the adjusting piece of theadjusting metal bar.

8. A Wrist watch band as claimed in claim 6 wherein a wide aperture isformed through a bottom plate portion of one of the rectangular rings soas to expose the opening of the plate portion of the adjusting piecewhen said adjusting piece is inserted into the rectangular ring.

9. A wrist watch band or chain as claimed in claim 8 wherein additionalrectangular rings are connected to said bridge portion between said tworectangular rings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,830,188 11/1931 Bellavance 59801,859,819 5/1932 Duerr 5980 1,860,186 5/1932 Kestenman 5980 2,549,6504/1951 Weinacker 5980 3,046,726 7/1962 Gay 598() 3,195,301 7/1965 Bello59-80 3,398,523 8/1968 Meng 5980 3,425,214 2/1969 Meng.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner G. P. CROSBY, Assistant Examiner US.or. X.R. 63-4; 224-4 H

